Ancestry Academy  > Education  >  The Genealogical Proof Standard: Build an Accurate Family Tree

 

In this virtual event, Ancestry's Corporate Genealogist Crista Cowan delivers an essential masterclass on the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS). Opening with a powerful warning about the dangers of climbing the wrong family tree, Crista explains how a single unverified assumption led her own family to build an extensive, 457-person family tree for people they were not actually related to. The primary objective of this session is to introduce family historians to the GPS—a professional five-step framework developed by the Board for Certification of Genealogists—to ensure that the ancestral lines they are tracing and the information they are adding are accurate.

 

This event is structured as a practical, step-by-step walkthrough of the five GPS principles, beginning with the crucial need for a reasonably exhaustive search that goes beyond finding just "three pieces of evidence". Crista provides a technical deep dive into evaluating record quality, teaching viewers how to distinguish between original, derivative, and compiled sources, as well as primary versus secondary information. The presentation features actionable tips for analyzing evidence, such as transcribing records into Ancestry's private Notes feature to slow down the research process, and utilizing the new Census Compare tool to evaluate conflicting data. The session concludes with strategies for resolving conflicting evidence and the importance of writing logically sound conclusions, ensuring researchers can easily re-evaluate their findings as millions of new records are added to Ancestry daily.

 

Chapters:

• [0:00] Introduction and The Wrong Family Tree
  
  

• [12:38] What is the Genealogical Proof Standard?
  
  

• [14:37] Step 1: Reasonably Exhaustive Search
  
  

• [18:57] Step 2: Complete and Accurate Source Citations
  
  

• [38:18] Step 3: Analysis and Correlation of Evidence
  
  

• [47:12] Step 4: Resolving Conflicting Evidence
  
  

• [53:11] Step 5: Writing a Logically Sound Conclusion

 

Apply the five steps of the Genealogical Proof Standard to a tricky branch in your Ancestry tree today, and utilize private notes to transcribe records and confidently prove your family's history.